Highlands Fondo | Race Strategy

After months of training and preparation, I'm now just a week away from my first Gran Fondo of the season. Next Sunday, I'll be lining up for the Highlands Gran Fondo in Butler, NJ. Part of the Suarez National Championship Series, this is one step closer to Nationals in September. 

For the uninitiated, a Gran Fondo is a long - and usually quite hilly - cycling event. It's kind of like a group ride, race, and tour all rolled into one. We'll dive into the racing details in just a moment. 

First, let's talk about the course for next weekend. 

A quick glance at the elevation profile tells you that this is not a flat, or even rolling, course. This route has some serious climbs and promises to be pretty brutal on my legs. Clocking in at 101 miles and 7400ft+ of elevation gain, I should sleep well on Sunday night. 

See those blue sections of the map? Those are the timed sections. One of the nice things about this series is that the entire ride is not a race, just small segments of it. In this case, you can clearly see four timed sections, totaling about 17 miles. The rider with the shortest cumulative time through all of the timed sections wins - it's that simple. The results are further divided into age groups to keep things relatively balanced; I'll be racing in the 35-44 age group. 

Alright, now that we've gotten the boring stuff out of the way, let's talk about some goals and race strategy. First and foremost: I'm not gonna win this thing. I already know that. This will be my first bike race since I was a teenager, and those were relatively short mountain bike races. My primary goal next weekend is to finish, preferably without dying (bonking) anywhere along the route. Assuming that isn't an unreasonable goal, I'm really looking to get comfortable in a race atmosphere and see what I'm capable of. I'll be working on pacing, nutrition, and hydration in hopes of dialing each of these in before hitting the start line at Nationals later this year. 

All that said, this is a race, and I plan on competing to the best of my ability. Since the course is identical to last year, I've been examining the 2022 results, looking at the winners times, and trying to estimate how I may perform. 

Segment	Distance	Gain	Fastest	Target
1	4.6mi	684ft	13:12	16-20min
2	5.8mi	296ft	12:31	15-18min
3	4.7mi	405ft	11:48	14-17min
4	2.1mi	314ft	6:27	8-10min

The table above gives you an idea of the length of each segment, the elevation gain, and the fastest time recorded during the 2022 race. Finally, you can see my target times on the far right. 

Of all the segments, the first one will likely be the hardest - it has the steepest climb and begins only a mile into the race itself - meaning I'll need to find a way to warm up reasonably well before the race begins. This segment alone will make or break a lot of riders (at least in terms of time), and if I can stay with a relatively fast group my odds of meeting my target is pretty good. Why not be more ambitious, and try to match the fastest time? Simply put: I've done the math, and I'm not that strong. When considering the average grade of the climb and the distance, I'd have to push close to 500w for 13 minutes to move my giant body up a hill that quickly. Instead, I'm shooting to maintain around 300w - maybe a little more if I'm feeling good - and taking it from there. I'm affording a wide range simply because there are so many unknown factors, especially early in a race when all the riders are still bunched together. 

The second segment is relatively flat with only a minor gain in elevation over nearly 6 miles. This suits me well, as my high FTP (303w) gives me a distinct advantage over lighter riders on flat-ish terrain. The real challenge will be how quickly this segment follows the first one; there's only a little more than a mile between the two, and not much time to recover after what will be a very hard effort. Again, there's a good chance I'll still be with a group at this point and can benefit from the draft, aiding both recovery and overall speed. 

The third segment is about half-way through the race, offering plenty of time to recover from the first two timed sections. It has a bit of a climb, but nothing too horrific. This is followed by the final timed segment closer to the end of the race. It begins with a short but punchy climb, and then generally levels out. Although short, I think this one will also be a decisive segment for the racers: we'll all have a lot of fatigue built up and be very tired. This is where I hope all of my training from the last 6 months will pay off, giving me a slight edge over other competitors. 

It's hard to estimate how I will finish overall - but let's give it a shot anyway. Last year there were just over 100 riders in my age group. If I can generally hit my target times, it should place me in the top 25-30% of my age group at the end of the day. I'll be ecstatic if I'm able to pull that off, but still trying to stay realistic about my expectations -- so much can happen at an event like this that sometimes you just have to roll with the punches. 

Well, that's where things stand. I have a few more easy rides to do before I shift gears (no pun intended) and give my legs a break while starting to carb load. Just like a few weeks ago, I'll be posting a detailed wrap up with my results at the end of the event. Stay tuned!